In a bear market, you must constantly add value to yourself.

When the market is cold, it's easiest for people to become complacent and waste away.
Many people don't fail because they lack opportunities in bull markets, but because they've already lost their edge during the bear market first.
Because when the next real market opportunity comes, the market only rewards those who prepared in advance.
So what you should really do in a bear market is make up for all the gaps you need to address beforehand.
Additionally, prolonged laziness will drag people into a state of slow self-defeat.
But if you keep yourself in a state of readiness, when opportunities come, you'll find them more easily and grip them more firmly.
I've been doing several things recently.
The first thing is learning English.
I've taken about 50 lessons over time.
Up to now, my biggest feeling isn't that I suddenly became much more capable, but that I've gradually become less afraid to speak.
Although my vocabulary is still insufficient, and I'm far from fluent most of the time,
at least now I can have short conversations with foreigners.
And when I encounter words I don't know, I don't lock up like before,
I try to substitute with similar or approximate words, getting the expression across first.
For me, that's progress.
Because language is never about waiting until you know everything before you speak—it's about learning while using it.
Now I also write down new words I learn every day in a notebook.
Recording a bit each day seems slow, but over time, you're accumulating for yourself.
The second thing is that I completely upgraded my home network.
The latest solutions on the market now are WiFi 7.
I installed a TP-LINK AP mesh networking system.
It's quite interesting—it hangs on the wall looking like an outlet socket,
but it's actually a router.
It doesn't take up space, and it can cover every room and every bedroom in the house with network.
Only after researching did I discover
that although my home had gigabit broadband, in reality it could often only achieve 100 Mbps speeds.
The problem wasn't the broadband itself, but the network cable in the walls was too old—it used Category 5 cable, which can only deliver 100 Mbps.
Later I directly hired an electrician to replace all the network cables in my walls with Category 6 cable.
Otherwise, no matter how high the broadband you get, it'll still be limited.
The electrician also recommended a brand called Akihabara, saying their shielding is quite good, and their Category 6 cable is relatively stable among this type.
Most people don't pay attention to their network normally,
but when it really comes time to snatch IDOs, grab allocations, seize opportunities,
network speed and stability become the most practical foundational guarantee.
When the market is good, for your trading speed to perform, the prerequisite is that your network doesn't fail first.
The third thing is Shadowsocks (or similar proxy tool).
I increasingly feel that installing a proper setup and actually using it long-term
is helpful for both improving my writing ability and trading ability.
I previously tried installing it on a Windows computer,
it worked at first, but after less than two weeks, it completely crashed.
It wasn't just the usual temporary disconnection, but the entire proxy environment broke down.
Later I even had someone fix it for me, and their conclusion was very direct:
this solution on Windows is unstable—when it crashes, it crashes.
So looking at it now, the optimal solution is still to stick with Mac.
Either you already have an Apple computer,
or just buy a Mac mini separately, specifically for running the proxy setup.
If you really plan to use it long-term,
a Mac mini—this kind of small machine on 24-hour standby—is basically the most stable solution.
The fourth thing is taking good care of your body.
This is actually more fundamental than the previous three things.
Because if you don't take care of your body during a bear market, don't regulate your sleep schedule,
when the bull market comes, people easily fall back into that state of staying up late every day, depleting their body, trading their life for returns.
So now I also force myself to regularize my schedule as much as possible,
maintaining some level of daily exercise.
Even if it's just running 3-5 kilometers, as long as you stick with it, it's meaningful.
Many people always feel like they don't need to worry about their body normally,
but when you get to the end, you'll discover
that without a body strong enough to handle things, many things are hollow.
Money is certainly important.
But if in the end you make the money but your body breaks down, and you can't even enjoy life properly,
then ultimately many things will still amount to nothing.
What you really should do in a bear market is not complain that the market lacks opportunities, but gradually adjust yourself into a state where you can receive opportunities.
English is to open the boundaries of information and communication.
Network is to ensure execution efficiency.
Proxy tools are to enhance cognition, writing, and trading auxiliary abilities.
Body and sleep schedule are to ensure that when opportunities come, you truly can receive them and withstand them.
These things don't look like profits during bull markets,
but when the market truly returns,
you'll discover
that they all ultimately become part of your returns.